DIY: SSL complete protection for two LED drivers

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
In case you're using two high wattage (>80 Watt ) led drivers to power COB LED arrays or plenty of LEDs in series ,then spend a minute or two and read about this complete protection .

As for the actual circuit to be done ,all it takes is some average skills in soldering and nothin' much more than that .

The circuit to described below ,can be made in a perforated PCB prototyping board quite easily.
Even if you do not know shit about electronics and how those things actually work .....

https://www.google.gr/search?q=perforated pcb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CB8QsARqFQoTCJ6o8aCwgccCFUntFAodvLQAFA&biw=1280&bih=891

(Thus the average soldering skills ...)

The finished board is made to protect LEDs and or COBs from fan failing and/ or from fan power supply failing .It also protects the timers that switch ON & OFF the drivers from accumulated inrush current ,
when two drivers are switched ON at the same time .That said ,the circuit will switch ON the first LED driver ,when it detects that the fan PSU is supplying with +12 VDC the fan and when the fan has reached more than ~350-400 rpm speed.
Then after few seconds it will switch ON the second LED driver.
If the fan ( or the fan PSU ) fails,both drivers will be switched OFF automatically ...

Once more ..Not much of electronics skills are needed to complete that circuit ...
A soldering iron ,some patience and of course the parts ....

In the pic below is the board,bottom side view .
All the parts used are "through -hole " and of course are placed on the other side of the board.
Then the pins coming through the holes of the perforated pcb are soldered on the bottom side .
To connect parts-make the "trace" lines - , just use some thin and soft wiring
(plastic jacket isolated of course ,not bare copper=short circuits ).
It will look messy ,but who cares ,as long as it works ,providing safety and security ..

SSL PROTECTION.JPG

Some further explanations :
Red traces : +12 VDC Power Pathway
Yellow traces : TACH signal input from FAN ( 3 or 4 wire fan is needed )
Blue traces : Caution : 110 or 220 AC voltage !!!
(cover solder points with plenty of nail-polish ,as an extra safety measure & use thick,good isolated wiring )
Lime green : triggering signal pathway.
White-small- lines:
Show where -in which holes the pins of the parts are soldered

Grey area holes :
All the holes in the grey area have to be soldered to the same hole marked "-" ,
There are two holes like that ( at "12VDC IN & AUX VDC IN/OUT ).
DO NOT CONNECT THE HOLES ON THE GREY AREA IN SERIES .
THAT IS CALLED A "GROUND LOOP" and ain't a good thing ...

Just use plenty of black colored wire pieces and connect them to the same point ,from where
the board is/will be powered from (..from the FAN +12 VDC PSU ).

Diodes ( D2-D4 ,except D1 ) :
Marked with the letter "D" .
A
means anode & C means cathode.
On the actual part ,the cathode side is usually marked with a line .

Capacitors:
Some are polarised .The + and - pins are marked where they should be soldered .
On the actual parts ,electrolytics have their "- " pin marked ,solid tantalum caps have their " +" pin marked .

Resistors:
Not much to say here ...Just solder them in the holes .

Q1 & D1 parts:
Those are three pin parts in a physical shape called " TO-92" .
Small black plastic things ,with one side flat and the other curved .
Place them on top side with the flat side ,as shown in the pic .

U1 part:
That is a small "chip" /Ic with 8 pins .(package : "DIP 8 "
As you look the actual part top-side pin #1 is the one at top-left (usually marked with a dot ,nearby).
At the pic the hole for pin #1 has a rectangular shape .All the other holes are oval.

Parts LIst :

R1 : 4700 OHMS (4K7)
R2 : 33'000 OHMS (33K )
R3 : 200'000 OHMS (200K ) - 1% TOLERANCE
*R4 : 470 OR 510 OHMS
R5 ,R6 : 5100 OHMS (5K1) - 1% TOLERANCE
R7,R8 : 510'000 OHMS (510K)
R9 : 2400 OHM (2K4)
R10 : 100 OHM

C1 : 10 - 47 uF ELECTROLYTIC OR SOLID TANTALUM , 25-35 V
C2 : 1 - 4,7 nF MKT OR POLYESTER
C3 : 47 -100 uF ELECTROLYTIC ,25-50 V
C4 : 1 - 2,2 uF ELECTROLYTIC OR SOLID TANTALUM ,25-35 V
C5,C6 : 100 nF MKT ,POLYESTER
(OR SOLID TANTALUM 25-35 V, " + " PINS TOWARDS GREEN TRACE LINE )
C7 : 1 uF ELECTROLYTIC OR SOLID TANTALUM ,25-35 V

D1 : 2N5064 SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (THYRISTOR )
D2,D3,D4 : 1N4148 SIGNAL DIODES

Q1 : 2N3904 NPN TRANSISTOR

U1 : LM 2917N-8 FREQUENCY TO VOLTAGE CONVERTER
* ALSO LM2907N-8 CAN BE USED ALTERNATIVELY ,BUT THEN R4 IS NOT NEEDED.

K1,K2 : DPDT (DOUBLE POLE-DOUBLE THROW ) 12VDC TRIGGER RELAYS, 250 VAC 8-10 A

Parts PDFs:

https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/2N3904.pdf

http://www.ret.hu/DataSheets/28_TIRISZTOR/PHIS_007/2N5064.pdf

http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm2907-n.pdf

http://www.vishay.com/docs/81857/1n4148.pdf

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1360846.pdf

Good luck and all the best ,to the brave ones !
I'm pretty sure that you will be more than satisfied with the outcome!

Cheers.
:bigjoint:
 
Last edited:

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
Bonjour
First thank you for the sharing.
How much does it cost you?
Look not too easy to do...for me at least!
Have a great day ★
 

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
Very cool! One question: 1 watt resistors or bigger?
No,common 1/4 W (0.250W ) resistors are used

Bonjour
First thank you for the sharing.
How much does it cost you?
Look not too easy to do...for me at least!
Have a great day ★
Should cost no more than ~15 Euros per board

Actually for me the cost was :
10x resistors = 50 cents
7x caps = ~ 2 Euros
2N3904 = 50 cents
2N5064 = 50 cents
3x 1N4148 =30 cents
LM2907N-8 / LM2917N-8 = 3.5 Euros
2 x DPDT relays = 4 Euros
1 piece of PCB board = 1 Euro
Total : 12.30 Euros


Actually very easy to do ...
Think it ,as it was .... a golf game ...
Start from a hole ,and then go filling them one by one ....
Leave the grey holes ,for the end ...


SDS,

Do you have the eagle files to go with this?

The PC poard should be less than 10 bucks from china........Have a few made and give them to your friends. ;-)
Inside the zip ,you'll find the DIpTrace file and a Gerber one

Cheers.
:peace:
 

Attachments

Last edited:

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
For further safety and convenience ....

You can use a plastic case/box/enclosure where you will put inside the :
1 ) finished protection board and
2 ) the 12 VDC fan power supply unit ...

Then wiring is done as shown in the pic ...
case completed.jpg

For outlets ( installed in the plastic box,of course) you can use :

- 2x AC sockets case -mount ,one for each driver ,where you can plug the led drivers AC cable/plug.
41ioCakU8bL._SY300_.jpg

- 1x Fan outlet ( use the one of an extension cord ,usually supplied with the 3 or 4 wires Fans )
image1.jpg

*Optional : You can add 2x (one for each driver ) " case mount resettable fuses ",
between the AC L out #1 & #2 of the protection board and the case-mount mains socket outlets .
Check your drivers specs- inrush current peak value & duration + normal state operating ( AC side ) current -,to choose the appropriate resettable fuses .


Then plug the protection box into your ( mains ) timer ...
And that's about all...

Cheers.
:peace:
 
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stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
For the LM2907N-8 / LM 2917N-8 ,you can use an " DIP 8 IC socket " ,instead of soldering directly the IC on the board ...
Solder the " DIP 8 socket " on the board and then you can attach the IC on the socket ...
(just push it in place with your fingertip...Just only check the "upper side " marks ,to match )

In case of a damaged IC (...after plenty years of operation ...) ,
re-installing one is going to be a matter of few secs ....

index.jpg


NS_LM2907N_8_IC.jpg
Cheers.
 
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stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
And here's a bit reworked design of the circuit ...
(more compact size )
Given dimensions are in millimeters.
reworked a bit.JPG

Inside the zip folder ,the diptrace file ...

( Download freeware edition of DipTrace link :

http://diptrace.com/download-diptrace/

Choose : " All features and libraries, 300 pins and 2 signal layers, non-profit use only " option )
 

Attachments

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
And -lastly - a small "show off " of how this circuit operates ...
P7302923.JPG
In the above pic you see those things :

On left ,the orange colored unit is a 12 VDc PSU .
Let us assume that this is the FAN PSU .
On top of it a 4-wire fan is placed ( My favourite ,super silent & super powerful PHANTEKS PH-F140XP )

Below is the "first half " * of the circuit explained at this thread .
The fan-fail protection .
* ( the K2 relay ,and all the circuitry right-wards from it ,at the schematics )

Connected at it's AC output & input is a digital multimeter .
In "continuity mode" ,the buzzer of the DMM should buzz continuously ,
like it was the #1 LED driver switched ON .

Nearby ,on top of the breadboard ,sits the "second half " of the circuitry described atthis thread.
( relay K1 and the circuitry below the relay .)
....Actually is not the same circuit ,but of another type ,but they have the same operational purpose.
Their main difference ,is the delay period.This one at the example has an adjustable 1-10 min delay,
while the one described at this thread ,has only few secs delay ....

Red LED blinking means switched OFF LED driver #2 & timer counting -
Green LED means switched ON LED driver #2 & timer inactive.

Behind the "turn ON delay " circuit ,is a front panel of a V series Mk III LED grow lIght ,
just to show the use of the AUX DC input/output of the circuit ...


On the zip folder you'll find -a pretty bad quality - vid ,thgat shows the operation of the circuit.
Firstly a "fan fail " simulation is done and then a " fan PSu fail " simulation , follows ...

Cheers.
:peace:
 

Attachments

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
Just for informative purposes ,except the easy way of perforated board ,
a blank PCB can be used and with the method of " laser printer toner transfer "
( plenty vids on YOUTUBE ,about this technique ) ,a more " clean" result can be obtained .
Still it needs etching and drilling the holes onto it ...
And for sure ,the whole procedure it's somewhat tricky and time consuming ,for the begginer at least.
But the result obtained is far better than a perforated board .

The pic below depicts the circuit described at this thread ,for 4x LED drivers ,
made with the "laser printer toner transfer method" .
The board has not been etched yet.
After etching in a chemical solution ( warm water & Sodium Persulfate ) ,
all the copper that is not covered with the toner ,is going to be disolved in the etching solution .
Afterwards the toner is removed with acetone and then the PCB holes have to be drilled.
Then the various parts will be soldered on the board.
Cleaning the flux residues with Isopropyl alcohol follows
and lastly the copper side is painted ,to protect the copper from corrosion .

P7312926.JPG

I know that this might be way over most of you ,but still you never know ,until you try ...
Some might try it out ...
Just do not forget that myself-for example- ,couple of years ago did not know shit about electronics ...
Neither i'm someone special or different than most are ,
neither I've became an expert in electronics already ...
But for sure I can make various " bits 'n' pieces ",
regarding LED grow lights and not only about them ...

All one has to do is to take the first step ...
A journey of a thousand miles begins like that ...

With a single step.

....And maybe with a big fat joint along ,for the way...

Cheers.
bongsmilie
 

CanadianONE

Well-Known Member
In case you're using two high wattage (>80 Watt ) led drivers to power COB LED arrays or plenty of LEDs in series ,then spend a minute or two and read about this complete protection .

As for the actual circuit to be done ,all it takes is some average skills in soldering and nothin' much more than that .

The circuit to described below ,can be made in a perforated PCB prototyping board quite easily.
Even if you do not know shit about electronics and how those things actually work .....

https://www.google.gr/search?q=perforated pcb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CB8QsARqFQoTCJ6o8aCwgccCFUntFAodvLQAFA&biw=1280&bih=891

(Thus the average soldering skills ...)

The finished board is made to protect LEDs and or COBs from fan failing and/ or from fan power supply failing .It also protects the timers that switch ON & OFF the drivers from accumulated inrush current ,
when two drivers are switched ON at the same time .That said ,the circuit will switch ON the first LED driver ,when it detects that the fan PSU is supplying with +12 VDC the fan and when the fan has reached more than ~350-400 rpm speed.
Then after few seconds it will switch ON the second LED driver.
If the fan ( or the fan PSU ) fails,both drivers will be switched OFF automatically ...

Once more ..Not much of electronics skills are needed to complete that circuit ...
A soldering iron ,some patience and of course the parts ....

In the pic below is the board,bottom side view .
All the parts used are "through -hole " and of course are placed on the other side of the board.
Then the pins coming through the holes of the perforated pcb are soldered on the bottom side .
To connect parts-make the "trace" lines - , just use some thin and soft wiring
(plastic jacket isolated of course ,not bare copper=short circuits ).
It will look messy ,but who cares ,as long as it works ,providing safety and security ..

View attachment 3469107

Some further explanations :
Red traces : +12 VDC Power Pathway
Yellow traces : TACH signal input from FAN ( 3 or 4 wire fan is needed )
Blue traces : Caution : 110 or 220 AC voltage !!!
(cover solder points with plenty of nail-polish ,as an extra safety measure & use thick,good isolated wiring )
Lime green : triggering signal pathway.
White-small- lines:
Show where -in which holes the pins of the parts are soldered

Grey area holes :
All the holes in the grey area have to be soldered to the same hole marked "-" ,
There are two holes like that ( at "12VDC IN & AUX VDC IN/OUT ).
DO NOT CONNECT THE HOLES ON THE GREY AREA IN SERIES .
THAT IS CALLED A "GROUND LOOP" and ain't a good thing ...

Just use plenty of black colored wire pieces and connect them to the same point ,from where
the board is/will be powered from (..from the FAN +12 VDC PSU ).

Diodes ( D2-D4 ,except D1 ) :
Marked with the letter "D" .
A
means anode & C means cathode.
On the actual part ,the cathode side is usually marked with a line .

Capacitors:
Some are polarised .The + and - pins are marked where they should be soldered .
On the actual parts ,electrolytics have their "- " pin marked ,solid tantalum caps have their " +" pin marked .

Resistors:
Not much to say here ...Just solder them in the holes .

Q1 & D1 parts:
Those are three pin parts in a physical shape called " TO-92" .
Small black plastic things ,with one side flat and the other curved .
Place them on top side with the flat side ,as shown in the pic .

U1 part:
That is a small "chip" /Ic with 8 pins .(package : "DIP 8 "
As you look the actual part top-side pin #1 is the one at top-left (usually marked with a dot ,nearby).
At the pic the hole for pin #1 has a rectangular shape .All the other holes are oval.

Parts LIst :

R1 : 4700 OHMS (4K7)
R2 : 33'000 OHMS (33K )
R3 : 200'000 OHMS (200K ) - 1% TOLERANCE
*R4 : 470 OR 510 OHMS
R5 ,R6 : 5100 OHMS (5K1) - 1% TOLERANCE
R7,R8 : 510'000 OHMS (510K)
R9 : 2400 OHM (2K4)
R10 : 100 OHM

C1 : 10 - 47 uF ELECTROLYTIC OR SOLID TANTALUM , 25-35 V
C2 : 1 - 4,7 nF MKT OR POLYESTER
C3 : 47 -100 uF ELECTROLYTIC ,25-50 V
C4 : 1 - 2,2 uF ELECTROLYTIC OR SOLID TANTALUM ,25-35 V
C5,C6 : 100 nF MKT ,POLYESTER
(OR SOLID TANTALUM 25-35 V, " + " PINS TOWARDS GREEN TRACE LINE )
C7 : 1 uF ELECTROLYTIC OR SOLID TANTALUM ,25-35 V

D1 : 2N5064 SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (THYRISTOR )
D2,D3,D4 : 1N4148 SIGNAL DIODES

Q1 : 2N3904 NPN TRANSISTOR

U1 : LM 2917N-8 FREQUENCY TO VOLTAGE CONVERTER
* ALSO LM2907N-8 CAN BE USED ALTERNATIVELY ,BUT THEN R4 IS NOT NEEDED.

K1,K2 : DPDT (DOUBLE POLE-DOUBLE THROW ) 12VDC TRIGGER RELAYS, 250 VAC 8-10 A

Parts PDFs:

https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/2N3904.pdf

http://www.ret.hu/DataSheets/28_TIRISZTOR/PHIS_007/2N5064.pdf

http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm2907-n.pdf

http://www.vishay.com/docs/81857/1n4148.pdf

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1360846.pdf

Good luck and all the best ,to the brave ones !
I'm pretty sure that you will be more than satisfied with the outcome!

Cheers.
:bigjoint:
First thing I would like to say thank you to you and all the others in this forum that contribute so much to the DIY LED scene. I only have one question, Can this circuit be used to protect a single driver against PSU or fan failure or only multiples of two or more?
 

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
First thing I would like to say thank you to you and all the others in this forum that contribute so much to the DIY LED scene. I only have one question, Can this circuit be used to protect a single driver against PSU or fan failure or only multiples of two or more?
Fan fail protection for a single driver :
Just use the "first-half " of the whole circuit ...
Like that ...
single.JPG

Cheers.
 

CanadianONE

Well-Known Member
Fan fail protection for a single driver :
Just use the "first-half " of the whole circuit ...
Like that ...
View attachment 3472157

Cheers.
Thank you for the quick reply. Have some parts on the way for my first build. 3 CXB3070 AB & MW HLG-120H-C1400A. More then likely cool then with AA11'S and build a fixture to hold everything together as a single unit. One other question and maybe this isn't the right place but for three CXB3070'S what kind of spacing would be best to cover an area roughly 18" deep by 36 to 40" wide?
 

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
Hi,
would it not be easier, safer and cheaper just using a nano arduino ebay thingy for like 3$ and a compatible 2 1-2$ optocoupled relay shield?
Let me think ....
3$ " nano arduino ebay thingy " versus 4$ just for the original Texas Instruments LM2917N-8 ...
Safer ,absolutely not ..Cheaper yes ...
Easier yes ,might be ...
1-2 $ optocoupled relay shield ....?
Brother , a good DPDT relay cost 3x the price ....
Cheaper and easier yes ...
Safer -as I've understood you mean " reliable " - absolutely not ...

The Schrack relays I'm using (Made in Austria ) have a price of ~3$ each ...
You want us to talk about their reliability ?

" Mechanical endurance : DC coil : >30x10^6 operations"
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1360846.pdf

30'000'000 operations ...

Assuming that the relay will operate just once per day (when the drivers are switched ON ) ,
that makes us 30'000'000 days of guaranteed operation ..
30'000'000 / 365 = ~82'191 ,8 years of operation ...
That standard satisfies me ,personally ,for my LED lights ,as a maker ...

The relays used ,will last for more than eighty thousand years of every day use .
(Assuming that the AgNi contacts will last the same ...)

Can you please find me the endurance data of that e-bay 1-2$ optocoupled shield ?
I'll be interested to know about ...
If any ....

If you still want to go the "easier" way ,then you'd better forget about e-bay stuff
and invest in a quality branded microcontroller ,as also in a branded -high quality relay shield ...
But still then ,ain't gonna be "cheaper " ...


Cheers.
:peace:
 

stardustsailor

Well-Known Member
I just meant safer, as in compared to a newb making his first soldering attempts on creating an AC line.
Not questioning that what you came up with isnt great stuff or isnt superior.

Was talking about something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5V-One-1-Channel-Relay-Module-Board-Shield-For-PIC-AVR-DSP-ARM-MCU-Arduino-/310566336050?hash=item484f323632
seems good enough
I can see any big difference on creating an AC line versus connecting AC wiring to an pre-made AC line
(of the relay shield ... )
Anyway ...You might be right ..
I should give more info about it ...

As for the shield ,yeap ,it seems alright ...

Regarding making an AC line in DIY PCB ,the trace should be of at least 1,5 mm wide ..
And " tinned " ...Meaning you should cover with solder the whole trace ...
In the pic below is a fan fail protection for a single driver
P8032933.JPG

and below for 4x drivers ...
P8032930.JPG

( A custom made pcb reinforcement was made with epoxy and 2 layers of glass fiber tape ,as i've run out of my favourite Bungard PCBs :cry:...)
P8032929.JPG

BTW ...tell me what do you think ...
About the Human Interface Device of V series Mk III :
Blue 7-seg LED display for the TWIN model ( 2x VERO 29 @ 2.1 max )
and green 7-seg LED display for the TETRAS model ( 4x VERO 29 @ 1.65 max )...
P8032935.JPG
(:

Cheers.
:peace:
 
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